FE-6101: Modernization of Footwear Manufacturing

(Sustainability in Footwear Production)

Md. Mukter Alam

Lecturer
ILET, University of Dhaka
Sustainable Materials and Components for Footwear

The most common type of materials and components (MaC) actually used include:
• Leather, canvas, polyurethane, PVC, some textiles and synthetic materials in the upper part.
• Leather, vulcanized rubber, thermoplastic rubber (TPR), polyurethanes (PU), thermoplastic polyurethanes
(TPU) or Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) in lower part.
• Shanks, nails, laces, eyelets threads, velcro, foams, heels, toe cap and etc.
• Additionally, new solutions are being developed to enhance the products properties and functionalities.

To develop, produce, and commercialize more ecological and sustainable products, the companies need to have
for each type of MaC, knowledge and competencies regarding the following:
• Type & origin of MaC – renewable materials, natural, recyclable or biodegradable
• MaC manufacturing – environmental impact of the process
• New MaC
• Quality control requirements and durability of the MaC
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 Footwear life cycle assessment

Eco-design and product engineering 3

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These aspects should be in the context of the applicable legal framework,

complemented with management options and best practices. 4
 According to ECR’23
Schedule-5 (6)
Wastewater for Tannery Industry
Effluent (liquid waste)
Standard for presence in a unit of
Parameters
mg/l
pH 6–9
Suspended solids 100
BOD5 at 20 oC 30
Sulfide (as S) 1
Total Chromium (as Cr) 2
Oil and Grease 10
Chloride (Cl-) 2000
Phenols 1
Wastewater per ton of hide processing (in
30
cubic meter)
*Note:
 Salt should be recovered through mechanical desalting and soak liquor separation.
 Chrome recovery plant should be established in case of chrome tanning.

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 Carbon Footprint and Energy Efficiency

A first step towards increasing energy efficiency is to measure and analyze the energy consumption
and to consider in which areas energy saving measures are feasible. Simple measures such as,
1. Switching machines off when not in use
2. Using servo motors in sewing machines
3. Changing to energy efficient LED lighting
4. Another option is to optimize the heating and cooling of buildings.
5. Typically, air conditioners or heating systems can be adjusted in a range to fit the outside
temperature (for example adjusting the inside temperature to 23 instead of 20 degrees Celsius
while outside temperature is at 30 degrees Celsius) rather than setting the temperature to
maximum power.
6. Taking this aspect further, a good insulation of buildings helps to save energy used for heating
and cooling.
7. Furthermore, waste heat from the production process may be used for heating purposes of the
building as well as natural ventilation or evaporation cooling effects for energy efficient cooling.

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Good Practice Examples

Solar Panels at PUMA Headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany

Photovoltaic Power Generation System at Key (Fujian) Microfiber Hua Chang

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Water Quality

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Suggestion for Pollution Prevention for tannery and footwear industry

• Store dry materials, such as bags of salt or dye drums, off the floor and away from liquids
by placing catch pans beneath the material
• Plug floor drains in material storage areas
• Use dry clean-up methods; provide brooms, vacuums, and absorbents

• Provide suitable work areas handling tools, and training to operators so they can avoid
creating spills
• Provide measuring equipment to operators
• Avoid filling process equipment with water from unmetered hoses; place meters on water
supplies feeding process equipment

• Use counter current or multi-stage rinsing to reduce water use

• Reuse wastewater from other processes that do not require high quality water
• Test incoming water supply for minerals or chemicals that negatively affect the process

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Hazardous Waste

Toxic - Waste that is containing concentration of certain substances that exceeds regulatory threshold
which are expected to cause injury or illness to human health or harm to the environment.
Corrosive - Acid waste with pH less than or equal to 2 and bases with pH greater than or equal to 12.5
that are capable of corroding metal containers such as storage tanks, drums and barrels. An example is
battery acid.
Flammable - Flammable or ignitable waste can cause fire under certain conditions and spontaneously
combust or have a flash point less than 60oC. Examples are waste oil and used solvents.
Reactive - Waste that are unstable under normal conditions and can cause explosions, toxic fumes, gases
or vapour when heated, compressed or mixed with water. Examples are lithiumsulphur batteries and
explosives.
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Solid (Non-Hazardous) Waste

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 Good Practice Example
Replacing polybags with reused fabric bags in Shenzhou Cambodia

Reused fabric bags in Cutting, Sewing

and Printing

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Good Practice Example

Figure: Paper reused Figure: Downscale

recycling

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 Soil and Ground Water Protection

Migration of toxic substances into the groundwater, prevention through

secondary containment

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Oil Contamination

Air Pollution Control

• Filters for exhaust systems carrying volatile organic

compounds (solvents)
• Dust filters for exhaust systems from dusty areas, e.g. knitting
departments; outsole grinding or buffing in shoe factories
• Filters for larger burners, i.e. for steam generators or heating
systems

Dust filters for exhaust systems

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Sustainable Packaging for Footwear

From all generated household waste, nearly 65% consists of packaging materials

Paper and cardboard are one of the oldest materials which still cover the largest
proportion of packaging
Another substance in shoe's boxes is silica gel

It is an extremely important element in the supply chain, distribution system, and finally
the method of use or handling of the product.

With regard to packaging, there is also the other side of the coin. Actually, packaging
prevents the formation of additional massive amounts of waste, which may arise due to
the rapid deterioration of food and the damage to goods during transportation or
storage. Packaging also enables easier and cheaper delivery of goods to the consumer.

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Definition and purpose of packaging
There are a lot of definitions for packaging, but a broad and well-established one can be: packaging is “a
coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, distribution, storage, retailing, and their end-use; the
means of ensuring the safe delivery to the final consumer in a sound condition at minimum cost; a techno-
economic function aimed at minimizing the costs of delivery while maximizing sales (and hence profit)”.
According to Hanlon, the functions of packaging system are basically to protect, contain, carry, and dispense a
product.
The Consumer Goods Forum has also made a broader definition of packaging system functions, which are:
 Protect the product.
 Promote the product.
 Provide information on the product, usage, health and safety, disposal, etc.
 Enable the convenient transportation and usage of the product.
 Allow the unitization of the product through the supply chain.
 Support the efficient handling of the product throughout the supply chain.
Finally, and obviously, it is possible to conclude that one of the main purposes of packaging is to ensure that a
product can be transferred from the point of production to the point of use in perfect condition, so that the product
itself is in the condition expected by the user.
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 Packaging classification
• composition material
• purpose
Purpose of use and
of packaging packaging
use and layer layer
packaging
• durability of use
• field of use
• contact of packaging with the material, etc.

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The environmental design of packaging – Packaging Eco-Design

Eco-design (environmental planning and product design)

In short, the design of environmentally friendly products can be generally defined as the
systematic consideration of environmental and health and safety factors during the
designing/planning of products from raw material to waste management.

The aim is to use an appropriate material, appropriate design, and the appropriate
technology to reduce material and energy consumption per unit of product, to eliminate the
use of toxic and harmful substances, and/or facilitate the recycling process.

The identification of environmental problems in the early stages enables organizations to

firstly adopt appropriate decisions and, on the other hand, to better understand how such
decisions impact the environmental aspects which are controlled by other players, such as
manufacturers of basic and auxiliary materials, waste processors, etc.

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The environmental design of packaging – Packaging Eco-Design

ASPECT OF PACKAGINGSUITABLE ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA

DESIGN
Raw materials Efficient use of resources, emissions in the
production, the ability of recycling, the migration
of harmful substances.

Colour The ability of recycling, toxicity

Size and design Efficient use of resources, emissions during
transportation

Thickness Efficient use of resources, emissions during

transportation, reuse

Structure (components) Efficient use of resources, reuse, the ability of

recycling
Plugs, labels, etc. The ability of recycling, reuse, the migration of
harmful substances

Glue, printing colours,The ability of recycling, emissions during

paints production, toxicity

Graphical design Reuse

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The environmental design of packaging – Packaging Eco-Design

The eco-design of the packaging thus covers more areas which constitute the basis for the redesign of the existing
packaging or the introduction of new packaging concepts. These areas are,
 designing the minimal amount of packaging (dematerialization)
 designing for recycling
 designing for reuse
 designing for composting
 avoiding harmful substances
 designing for better consumer awareness

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 Design for a minimal amount of packaging (dematerialization)
Minimizing or reducing the weight of packaging, or dematerialization, represents one of the most important
development trends in the field of packaging. Dematerialization of all types and categories of packaging is also one
of the main criteria for eco-design. The reasons for reducing the weight of packaging per unit of packaged product
does not lie only in increasing environmental awareness, but also play an important role in the economic interests
of producers and users too. Not only in the field of making additional costs but also because of the continuing
increases of raw material prices. The fact is that producers are often using too much packaging. It is also obvious
that the trend of dematerialization could not be carried out without certain technological developments in the field
of packaging materials.

An important indicator of the efficiency of the packaging is the ratio between the weight of the packaged goods and
the weight of the packaging. The higher the ratio, the better it is in terms of resource efficiency and reducing
packaging waste. The weight ratio of the packaged product and the necessary packaging thus spans a wide range,
from 1:1 to 200:1, and is on average about 10:1. In the footwear industry, however, this ratio is somewhere between
2:1 for summer light shoes and 12:1 or 15:1 for trekking or mountaineering shoes, for example.

Oversized packaging increases the impact on the environment due to too much unnecessary packaging material
used; however, excessively reducing the packaging weight can lead to the opposite effect on the environment. For
example: oversized packaging by 10% means that after use, 10% of the resources needed to produce and transport it
will be lost. On the other hand, insufficient packaging (one that does not sufficiently protect the packaged goods)
will result in a 100% loss of all the resources necessary for the production, manufacturing, transportation, and
storage of the product, including the packaging. 24
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Design for a minimal amount of packaging (dematerialization)

The amount of packaging material used is dependent on the:

 type of packaging
 size of the packaging
 construction of the packaging
 coordination in the use of the packaging material with a packaging production system
 selection of basic and auxiliary packaging materials

A few additional measures on how to improve material efficiency in relation to the packaging are mentioned below:
 reducing the thickness of the packaging within the limits that ensure the protection of the goods.
 eliminating unnecessary empty space, layers, and components.
 selection of the quantity or volume of the packaged goods that actually meets the needs of the consumer.
 minimal use of printing resources (especially in cases where these resources are not the key factor for customer
decisions).
 ensuring the good fit of the sales packaging into the packaging group.
 optimization of the collective packaging for maximizing the volume of the pallets
 determining which are the most effective competitive packaging products in terms of minimum material
consumption for the same purpose of use.

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PUMA case study of sustainable shoe packaging

The clever little bag consisted of a non-woven polypropylene bag and corrugated “bone” providing stability
to the design and ensuring at the same time that there is no contact between the shoes. The design of the bag
was different due to the missing middle layer the bag weight was potentially 25 % lower compared to the
standard box.
Therefore, the weight of the bag was approximately 0.02 kg. The same corrugated material as for the current
design (100% recycled material) was used for corrugated “bone” and weighed approximately 0.082 kg.

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Other sustainable shoe packaging solutions

PUMA is not the only company who tries to find a new solution for shoe boxes. Another example is company
Viupax, who decided to reinvent the shoe box in 2017 and minimize space needed for transportation of shoes. The
new solution by Viupax is an eco-friendly box designed by Matadog Design from Greece. It uses up to 57% less
paper and needs an average area of 0.25 m ². It saves up to 50% of space in the container. Moreover, it could be
used as a shipping box. For this idea Viupax won 3 international design awards in 2018.

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STOP

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